


the thought of losing you is sinking in

by AllHaleOlicity



Series: Next Gen AUs and One Shots for Angst [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Next Generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHaleOlicity/pseuds/AllHaleOlicity
Summary: Family dinner after Tommy passes away
Series: Next Gen AUs and One Shots for Angst [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1599961
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	the thought of losing you is sinking in

It's been about a month since the funeral. It didn't feel like it, though, time stopped feeling real the second she heard the news.

She should be fine considering the circumstances. She had Dinah, she had Chris, she had Richie. She had the Queens, The Harpers, and every member of extended family out there. She was grateful for them, she really was. But none of them were who she wanted.

Family dinners continued, everyone got together and recapped their weeks. It was just like normal. But there was a stinging pain that everyone got when they looked over to the Merlyn end of the table and notice there is one empty seat.

With so many people in the house you would think they wouldn't notice one missing person, but this person is important to everyone....Was important to everyone. 

But especially to Bex.

Isaac put a hand on her shoulder, taking her attention away from the empty seat. She didn't even realize she had been staring at it for most of the night until she looked over at Isaac and saw the look of concern and empathy on his face. She gave him a slight forced smile and sat up a little straighter before looking down at her almost full plate of food. She pushed the peas around with her fork. She wasn't really hungry.

It's not like she hasn't eaten in a month, she has. Fridays are just harder on her. Everyone knew this so no one pressured her. Still, Oliver continued to make their favorite meals just in case they were interested in eating.

Richie was old enough to know something was wrong, but not old enough to really understand what was wrong. He loves the food Oliver makes and eats about 3 plates every Friday, and Oliver sends him with whatever they have left in the kitchen.

Christine usually goes home with half a plate of leftovers, not eating much but she'll get caught up in the conversations which will take her mind off of things.

Bex goes with a full plate. There's nothing to distract her from the situation. Even if she tried to get involved in the conversations, they are all just conversations about her dad. Things he and Oliver did when they were younger, what kind of trouble he got into, how worried he was about marrying Dinah. It was all stuff to lighten the mood but it was better kept at a distance. She didn't want to hear stories about her dad from someone else, she wanted to hear these stories from him.

It's a coping mechanism, talking about the loved one that you lost. It's healthy because it allows you to grieve without all of the crying. That's what her therapist says. But she doesn't really listen to that either, she just goes because it makes her mom happy and it makes her sister happy and it makes her uncles and aunts happy and it makes her boyfriend happy.

"Bec?"

She looked up at Isaac. It was too easy to zone out these days.

"You wanna get some air?" He asked, nodding towards the back patio.

Bex looked over towards the back door, glancing over the rest of the table as she did.

Chris was leaning her head on Aidan's shoulder, watching Bex. It's been just as hard on her as it has been on Bex. She was just better at being positive. Maybe she was better at hiding her feelings.

Bex looked back at Isaac. "I think I'm gonna go by myself." She told him, giving him another slight smile, trying to make this one look less forced.

She stood up from the table and walked over to the back patio. Chris turned her head to watch her, as soon as the door opened and shut she looked over at Isaac. He shrugged before looking back down at his plate. She then looked at Aidan.

"I'll be right back." She whispered to him before standing up and following Bex.

The patio door opened up again and closed. This caught Bex's attention quicker than Isaac did earlier. Maybe it's because she assumed she would have been followed out by someone.

"You okay?" Chris asked, crossing her arms to keep her sweater from blowing in the cold wind. "You haven't eaten much."

"I never eat much." Bex replied, turning around to lean on the patio railing. She copied Christine and crossed her arms.

"You haven't done much of anything recently." Chris took a step closer. "You haven't called, texted, Mom says you haven't came by the house."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Are you?"

Bex stood up straight. "What's that mean?"

"You've been zoned out all night."

"I've had a long week."

"Doing what? You're not working right now." Christine was usually the type to be patient, gentle, loving. But it's been a month and her sister was not giving her much to work with. She's been patient. It was time to get her sister back to the way she was.

"I'm sorry? My dad died." Bex leaned back again. "I think I'm entitled to a bad week."

"We've all had a "bad week", Bex. We've had a few bad weeks. We're still talking, we're still texting, we're still continuing our lives, we're not pausing everything because-"

"Everyone deals with grief in their own ways." Bex turned around, looking out to the big open yard. "You would be the same way if it were mom."

"Okay, what does _that_ mean? I don't care that dad died?" Chris took another few steps forward until she was about 2 feet away from Bex.

"No. You work with mom, you spend more time with mom. I worked with dad, I spent the most time with him, I'm taking this a little harder than everyone else."

"It's been over a month."

"There's not a time limit on grief-"

"Stop quoting the fucking therapist, Bec, you don't even go half the time."

Bex turned around again. "I don't have anyone."

"Bullshit."

"My mom, my actual mother, the one that gave me life, left me and had 3 more kids." She uncrossed her arms and raised a finger on one hand.

" _Dinah_ is our mom."

"My dad died." Another finger goes up.

" _Our_ dad died."

"You can go in there and exchange happy memories all you want. It's not gonna bring him back."

"It's not about bringing him back-"

"I can't go to work because the second I walk through those doors I'm gonna get a train of empathy. I get enough from Isaac and everyone else in this damn family, I don't need my coworkers doing the same."

"You think Mom and I didn't have that same issue? And what does Isaac or anyone else have to do with this? They're trying to be there for you-"

"I don't need anyone to be there for me." Bex moved past Chris, bumping into her shoulder as she did.

"You don't get to be a bitch because you're in mourning." Chris turned around, watching Bex as she went for the door.

Before opening it up, she took a step back and looked over at her sister.

"News flash, we're all in fucking mourning. You don't get to go around and say you have it the worst when you're being treated like everyone else. The only difference is I'm letting Aidan be there for me. Richie is playing with his friends. Mom is talking to uncle Ollie and Aunt Felicity. You're singling yourself out, Bec."

"Are you done?"

"You say you don't have anyone." Chris took a step closer to Bex again. "Truth is, if you keep acting like this, if you keep pushing people away, you'll be right about that." She took another step, looking at her sister in the eyes. "Now I'm done." She said before moving past Bex, returning the shoulder bump a little more aggressively than the previous one as she walked back inside.


End file.
